The domain name system (DNS) and domain name registration system have become an integral part of how consumers and businesses conduct activity on the Internet.
The DNS system works by an interrelation of registrants, registrars, and registries. For example, registries maintain operative control over a top level domain (TLD), such as the traditional .COM, .NET, .ORG, .EDU, and .GOV, as well as the newer .BIZ, .INFO, and .NAME TLDs. Registrants are the entities that register the use of a domain name in a specific TLD for a finite time. Registrars act like an intermediary between the registrants and registry. Registrars receive and process the registrants' domain name reservation requests, and provide tools and an interface to the registrant to maintain operation of its reserved names. Registries in turn receive and process requests from registrars and provide tools and an interface to the registrar to maintain operation of its customers (registrants) reserved names. The registry makes available the mechanism to reserve and update domain name registrations through the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP). Registrars, who are authorized by the registry, have the ability to make reservations and check the state of domain names through the EPP. The registry provides the EPP as a communications gateway to registrars for such purposes.
This multi-party transaction reserving a domain name takes place through a domain name registration. When registering a domain name, a registrant may initially reserve a domain name from one to ten years. The expiration date of the domain name occurs on the anniversary date of the domain registration at the end of the initial registration period. A domain name registration may be renewed any time, but may never be renewed to an expiration date more than ten years into the future. When a domain name approaches its expiration date, the registrar of the domain name may send reminders to the registrant to renew the domain name.
The registrant will then decide whether the domain name is worth the price of renewal. If so, the registrant will renew the domain name. If not, the registrant will let the domain name lapse into expiration and eventual deletion from the registration system. A registrar may incentivize the registrant to renew the domain name by, among other things, offering multi-year discounts, value-added services, or time limited discounts.
One problem with these types of discounts is that, if offered to every registrant that has a domain name expiring, the registrar may lose revenue by unnecessarily offering discounts to those registrants that would renew the registration without any special incentive. In particular, unless renewed well ahead of time, every domain name will eventually near its expiration date. Some domain names are more desirable than others and some domain names host a more successful website than others. For example, a domain registrant with a domain name that is, by itself, more desirable or that hosts a popular website will likely renew the domain name before it expires. To offer these registrants a discount would be unnecessary and costly in the aggregate.
On the other hand, a domain registrant that has a weak domain name and an unsuccessful website may decide that the cost of renewing the domain is not worth the benefits received at the default price point. It may be that a discount lowering the price point would cause the registrant to change its mind and renew the domain. This would provide additional registration fees to the registrar and, in turn, the registry. A system and method are needed to target expiring domains to provide special discounts tailored to each domain in the hope of persuading registrants to renew the domain name registration.
Even assuming a registrar would like to offer such discounts, it may be infeasible for it to develop a methodology and system of targeting the appropriate domains for offering discounts. A system and method are needed to provide registrars with a tool that would facilitate the offering of discounts without unduly burdening the registrar with the cost of developing a discount system.